Musicians who played behind country-rock stars to be center stage at Guitar Pull in Waycross

Tuesday

Sep 17, 2013 at 7:13 PM

Mike Morrison

The three headliners for the 16th annual Gram Parsons Guitar Pull and Tribute Festival have stood in the dim light, right on the edge of the spotlight, during their musical careers.

Each of the three, who have connections to some of the biggest stars of country-rock music, will be center-stage at the three-day festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday at the Okefenokee Fairgrounds in Waycross.

The late Parsons, who spent part of his childhood in Waycross, was a pioneer of country-rock, writing and performing such standards as "Hickory Wind" and "One Hundred Years From Now" and performing with The Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers and as a solo artist.

Ian Dunlop, an early bandmate of Parsons in The International Submarine Band, will take to the festival's main stage at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Dunlop, from Cornwall, England, also came up with the Flying Burrito Brothers name, by which a loose cast of Los Angeles musicians became known in the 1960s.

"In the early 1970s, following the untimely death of Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris continued Gram's vision of country music with attitude by forming The Hot Band and taking her show on the road," festival host and promoter Dave Griffin said.

McLean, who resides in Spartanburg, S.C., will perform an acoustic set with guitarist Brandon Turner.

Lowrey, a Dacula native, comes from a musical family. His great-great-grandfather was Gid Tanner, a fiddle player whose band, The Skillet Lickers, was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1988.

A lengthy roster of other bands and singers also are set to perform, including Waycross' own Billy Ray Herrin, like Griffin a disciple of Parsons' ground-breaking brand of music.

Winners of the first Gram Parsons Guitar Pull Songwriting Contest also will perform.

"Not many locals could have guessed that … [Parsons] would reach worldwide status as a musician as he sat at the age of 9 under piano teacher Bessie Maynard's tutelage," Griffin said. "The fact that he did indeed change the direction of modern music in the late 1960s by blending honky-tonk, bluegrass and folk music with a rock-and-roll attitude has come to define his body of work, which is still inspiring musicians and listeners to this day."

Tickets are $25 for Friday's shows, $25 for Saturday and $10 for Sunday. The full weekend is $50. The festival grounds are open to recreational vehicles for $30 for the weekend. Tent camping is free with a weekend ticket.

For more information, visit the festival's website at gpgpfest.com.

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